Afghanistan condemns blasphemous cartoon contest

KABUL: Afghanistan on Wednesday strongly condemned an anti-Islam cartoon contest planned by a far-right Dutch politician in a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the statement said, “holding of the contest for creating, publishing and disseminating disrespectful cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is not only a source of deep offence for the people and government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan but has also provoked the feelings of all Muslims around the world.”The statement added: “Insulting any religious and sacred values of human beings is an undesired deed. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan condemns in strongest terms this heinous and inhumane act and one that is in contradiction with recognized moral, human rights and freedom of speech standards.”The ministry added: “We seriously call on relevant entities at the United Nations and the International Community to prevent any such acts that cause hatred and turmoil among the followers of religions.”Meanwhile Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani on Thursday telephoned his Dutch counterpart and asked him to do all he could to halt a planned anti-Islam cartoon contest in the Netherlands.He asked Stef Blok to immediately stop the planned blasphemous cartoon completion which had hurt the feelings of over 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide.The Dutch foreign minister distanced his government from the cartoon contest and said he would do all under his country’s laws to stop the event.In June, Geert Wilders, the Dutch opposition MP who leads the Netherlands’ second largest party, invited submissions of cartoons depicting the Prophet, which Islam forbids.The Kabul Times